Improved ditching-machine



w. M. PERKINS.

Ditching Plow. No. 51,859. Patented Jan. 2, 1866.

u PETER PNOTO-LITHDGRAPNER. WASHINGTON B 0.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM M. PERKINS, OF LA FONTAINE, INDIANA.

IMPROVED DITCHING-MACHINE.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 5 1,859, dated January 2, 1866.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM M. PERKINS, of La Fontaine, in the county of Wabash and State of Indiana, have made a new and Improved Ditching-Machine; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the nature, construction, and operation of thesame, suflicient to enable one skilled in the art to which it appertains to construct and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, which is madepart ot'this specification, and in which my improvement is represented by a perspective view.

Theimprovement consists ofa plow provided with a forward wheel for gaging depth, an adjustable double cutter for making the vertical cut on each side of the furrow-slice, an elevatingshare with an adjustable mold-board for carrying sidewise from the ditch the removed earth, and, lastly, a truck for the plowman to stand upon, and having beneath it regular plates for scraping away the earth which has been raised and thrown upon the edge of the ditch by the mold-board.

In the drawings, Ais the beam of the plow; B, the clevis; O, the sheth or standard; D, the handles, which are fastened to the upper end of the sheth by the round E, and at the forward ends pivoted to the standard F,which rises from the beam A. By this means the elevation of the handles is regulated to accommodate the plowman.

At the forward end of the plow is the gagewheel G, which determines the depth of penetration of the cutting portion of the plow. Following the wheel the double colter H H, which is strengthened by the rod J J, the relative distance of the colters being adjusted by means of the set-screw and nut I K.

Following the colters, which out each side of the furrow-slice to a depth of perhaps four inches, comes the share L, the point of which insinuates itself under the soil and raises it as the plow passes forward. As it strikes the adjustable mold-board M it is deflected onto the bank, or, in case of considerable depth, to the ditch, which is made by a succession of operations. The mold-board M is removed and the soil pushed over onto the bank by the portion N of the share which forms a mold-board.

Following the plow is a truck consisting of two flaring plates, 0 O, with a platform, P, and two wheels. R It. to a link, T, on the rear of the sheth, and as the truck is drawn along the plates 0 scrape away the dirt from the side of the ditch, so that it shall not readily wash or crumble thereinto. The series of operations render the matter complete by a succession of trips, the adjustment for depth and width having been explained as the parts capable of said adjustment were treated of.

Having described my invention, what I claim therein as new, and desire to secure ,by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination of the double colter consisting of the cutters H H, with the screw and nut I K.

2. The adjustable mold-board M, adapted to act upon the raised mold at diti'erent depths of the share, as described.

3. The truck 0 O P R R, in combination with and drawn behind the plow, and operating as and for the purpose described.

WM. M. PERKINS.

Witnesses CHRISTIAN MILLER, WM. H. HUMPHREY.

The bow S is hooked 

